Logan Ryan now a veteran in Patriots secondary

Logan Ryan had to laugh when asked if he feels like a veteran.“I mean you’ve got to ask other guys,” the third-year cornerback out of Rutgers said after yesterday’s organized team activities. “I just feel like it’s another offseason, another opportunity to work on my game.”

Whether or not Ryan feels like an old hand by now isn’t necessarily the point. He is by no means a new face anymore, and with the depth chart in the secondary looking the way it does now, the Patriots need Ryan to play like someone who has been there.

Much has been made of the roster overhaul the Pats have undergone at cornerback since winning Super Bowl XLIX. Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Kyle Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard are all gone. While the team picked up Bradley Fletcher and Robert McClain to help fill the void, it’s players like Ryan who will need to step into a leadership role.

Still, Ryan said he doesn’t feel any added pressure heading into this season.

“Not at all,” he said. “No, no additional pressure, the only pressure is you’re a Super Bowl champ. Everyone’s got that target. That target’s on your back now so you’ve got to come out and work and do it all over again and try to improve.”

That’s exactly what Ryan seems to be doing. In yesterday’s workout, he broke up three passes and consistently put himself in good position to make plays.

Drafted in the third round in 2013, Ryan started seven games as a rookie and led the team with five interceptions. With the addition of Revis and Browner last year, Ryan’s defensive snap counts went down 5.5 percent, according to FootballOutsiders.com, as did his interception total, which dropped to two.

His time on the field figures to increase this year, though, purely from the standpoint of Ryan having more experience and a better grasp of the defense than anyone else on the roster at the position. Still, he doesn’t see a big leap from last season to 2015.

“I don’t know about jumps,” he said. “I’m just trying to build off where I left last year. I think last year I was a little better off than I was as a rookie. So I’m just trying to keep making those strides.”

Ryan sees two main points for improvement.

“Technique and consistency,” he said. “I think that’s what the position is. I think anybody can make one good play, but to string them together and limit those bad plays is something I’m always aiming to do.”

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